A response from Louisiana to the question posed recently about whether to keep drinking coffee shop coffee or whether to save the $3 it often costs to buy a cup:

Dear Sean:

As a native Upstate New Yorker (Homer) and actual coffee roaster and coffee shop owner in Covington, Louisiana just across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans (yes, Hurricane Katrina was a factor in my move "north"), I can't resist your coffee query.

You are undoubtedly paying a lot for your daily cup of coffee relative to what it would cost for you to make it at home. The same is true for every meal you eat out that you don't cook at home, for every oil change you don't do yourself, etc.

To justify your coffee expenditures, do a little research. If you're just buying from a franchise, don't bother. If you're buying from a locally-owned shop, keep treating yourself. According to AMIBA (the American Independent Business Alliance), upwards of 70% of the money you spend at a local, independent business will be recirculated within your community (versus less than 20% when spent in a chain or non-local establishment). Not only is this good for your community as local banks, local accountants, local schools, local service groups, etc. will benefit from the cash flow, it's also good for you. Local cash flow means more sales of local newspapers and more on-line advertising by local businesses, and thus more readers of your column!

That's the community-and-you part. As for justifying the actually handing $3-$9 (your figures) across the coffee counter, here are some pointers. First, switch what you drink. The fresher the coffee, the less you need to do to it to make it quite a treat. Your coffee doesn't have to have a European name to be delicious; give brewed coffee another chance. If you currently drink those frozen "candy bars in a cup," stop! Those cover up the flavor of coffee that's not very good to begin with (and are never good for you). Find the coffee that's roasted closest to the date you're buying it. You'll get the most authentic flavor of the beans that are being used and you'll find you can cut way back on whatever it is you're currently adding that makes your drink so expensive (steamed half n half, flavored syrups, chocolate, etc.). Alternatively, find a local shop that sells coffee by the pound and buy that -- you're still supporting the local shop (even if it's roasted in Vermont) and you're saving money, too. The best combination is to find a shop that roasts their own coffee and sells it by the pound. Heaven!

[If you can't find a shop that roasts locally and you're willing to disregard the whole "local" angle, you can always buy your fresh-roasted coffee from me since I ship the same day I roast and our local community can use more cash flow, too - but then you've got shipping costs. If your shop doesn't roast their own, you've got to understand that THEY are paying for shipping which increases the cost to you per cup...]

Bottom line is to keep supporting your local businesses. Switch from fancy flavored drinks to brewed coffee or beans. You'll stretch your local coffee dollar in two ways: your money will last longer which is good for your wallet, and what you do spend on coffee will circulate close to home which is good for your community.

Oh, and one more thing -- see if you can get your office to switch to a local coffee supplier. There has been plenty of research done on productivity in the workplace as it relates to having good coffee available on-site. Just making the switch from some yucky mass-produced mylar-packaged (and we could have an extended conversation on how bad for the environment that is and whether as adults we are capable of measuring one or two scoops in exchange for doing away with foil-encased pre-measured stale coffee from some place far away from Syracuse) coffee pods to a pound of good coffee whenever you need it is a GREAT idea that you could discuss with whoever is concerned about the time you spend on those breaks from your keyboard!